


A Regret

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, F/M, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Regrets, Secret Crush, Talking, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 20:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10861305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: Daisy and Coulson talk about regrets post Framework.





	A Regret

"I never saw the possibilities, so, I focused on the past."

He's staring at Lola, in her partially repaired state, having pulled the cover off of her.

How he ended up here, he's not quite sure, only that he was following a hunch. Rabbit trailing bits and pieces of ideas that he still remembers from being inside the Framework.

Only to end up after midnight in the hangar.

Finding Daisy already here.

Almost like it was meant to-.

"You were sort of taught to not look for possibilities," she says, interrupting his thoughts. "Like, totally avoid possibilities. Hope."

He watches her face fall at the mention of the name, and sighs, and turns to lean against Lola's side with her.

"Yes, but it made me so narrow minded," he frowns, crossing his arms across his chest. "It made me afraid of change."

"All because you wished you'd never joined SHIELD? Coulson, why would you do that?"

She's not angry, but there's something there below the surface that he can't quite put his finger on. Her face has gone enigmatic again.

Damn, she'll make a great Director someday.

"I just felt...responsible," he goes on, lowering his voice. "For everything that's gone wrong. To May. To the team. To you."

"Well, I can't say I'm unfamiliar with that feeling," she confesses and lets out a heavy sigh, then gives him a sympathetic smirk.

"I know you are," he tells her quietly. "It's easier to believe in a lie, sometimes." He says carefully. "Than risk getting hurt again."

Then he meets her eyes and sees them wide with surprise, the way that always thrills him and scares him all the same.

When he shares too much.

"What was your life like there?" she asks with a lilt of curiosity, fiddling with the ends of her sweater sleeves.

"I was...married," he says with a sad smile when she glances up. "It didn't work out."

"Too much blue soap, huh?" she asks, and relaxes a little, then notices his frown. "Sorry, I meant-"

"I know you didn't mean it like that. Yes, though," he nods. "She couldn't handle my...episodes...paranoia," he gives an uneasy laugh. "I needed someone to tell me I wasn't-"

"And she didn't," she finishes for him, tensing her jaw, her empathy always moving out in front protectively.

"Hey," he says, putting a hand on her arm for a moment. Then he tries to explain. "Part of me thinks that Aida, or maybe it was the Darkhold, it doesn't matter now. That we ended up condemned by our own lies."

"I guess that's the danger in trying to change the past. Instead of looking at-"

"What's in front of you," he finishes.

She stares down at the floor, away from his gaze with a shy smile.

"Lucky for me, I didn't have to erase my one regret," she says and raises her eyebrows. "Aida never scanned me."

"Lucky for you," he answers dryly and steps back away from the car.

Maybe that's enough for one night.

After all, Daisy must be exhausted from having to pull them from their nightmares. To have to see that world up close and personal.

Only, he can't help but be curious. What if it's a part of him still left over from the Framework?

Whatever it is, he takes a few steps and then turns around to look back at her.

"You have a regret?"

"I have lots of them," she tilts her head and blinks her eyes at him, like she's not ready to give that up.

"I see," he smiles back, because, Daisy should be able to keep her regrets to herself. Yes, that seems right.

"Although, I think that if I learned anything," she calls after him. "It's to be careful which one you choose."

There those he could guess at, but it would be just that, guessing.

His own curiosity must show through, though, because she walks closer to him, and stops once they're together again.

The silence between them, him not knowing what to ask, if he even should, as he swallows he finds himself trying to look away from her.

But he can't.

It can't be worse than his regret. It's Daisy, after all. The way she sees things...so _differently_.

"And I've realized that I can make it go away right now," she says with a small laugh, then a tiny shrug after.

It takes him by surprise. She seems happy, relieved, even.

 _Yes_. He wants that for her.

He finds himself nodding in agreement.

"Of course," he says, trying to not sound too excited. "Whatever I can do-"

She knocks him a few steps backwards as she takes his breath away. Literally.

How this could be happening to him. He doesn't deserve this. She...

 _Oh_ , she kisses him again, this time, less hesitant, like she just _knows_ , then he remembers how to kiss and not just be kissed. Then he remembers he's kissing....Daisy.

There's no way he's going to let her down.

"Hey," she tells him, all breathless as their mouths part. "Not bad for a regret, huh?"

"No," he answers, holding her arms in his hands. "Do you have any... _other regrets_?"

"Wow. Phil," she teases. "And I thought I was impulsive."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," he admits to her, and lets his hands fall from her arms to her wrists, then her hands.

"Can you help me erase a regret?"

"Sure," she says, and leans up to kiss him on the cheek.

He slips the keys to Lola out of his pocket and into her hand.


End file.
